Ketrab V
In the Citadel, two new Specter trainees, Turgood and Calleh, meet each other for the first time. While waiting for their superiors, they are introduced to Panoptica , one of the Ae-I's that helps run the city. Shortly thereafter, the three leaders of the Specters along with two others, Luz and Savros, show up and begin to brief our heroes. There is a demon worshipping cult in the former temple district (now District 6) that needs to be shut down. So they soon set out (though the bitchy Luz quickly departs). They head down to the market to pick up some things (where they encounter a slightly less unhinged crazy guy). By midday, they've reached the designated area. As they enter the temple, they find the main hall mostly deserted. Getting a layout of the area from Panoptica, Calleh picks a lock to a strange, dark room. As the trio enters, they begin to see glowing doors form in the darkness. Looking for treasure, Turgood enters the yellow door, but finds nothing but empty yellow space. He calls out, but his voice echoes throughout the temple, drawing the attention of the cultists in the other room. They rush in a question Calleh and Savros, who feign ignorance. One of the cultist priests goes into the yellow and brings Thorgod back into the realm. The dwarf pretends to be a prophet of the destructive old demon Kaputha. Many of the cultists back him up. As they go into another room, Savros flips out, thinking that his comrades are really associated with demons. Calleh manages to diffuse the tense situation by bashing Savros in the back of the head. *The rest of the demons take Turgood out to the main chamber to perform some rituals, while Calleh is questioned by Odo, one of the cult priests. They leave the room and Odo sends four of his servants to take care of Savros. When they go back to check on him, they find that the the servants are dead, as Savros kicks down the door and pulls a gun to Odo's head (clearly whacked out of his mind). Calleh kicks Odo unconscious and Savros takes him out of the temple. When Nunn realizes that Odo is missing and his servants killed, he blames Turgood. But before they can act, Luz bursts through the ceiling and starts frying minions with lightning. She is quickly beheaded by the large mamotaur cultist, ending her rampage. Nunn goes to battle Turgood, but he manages to turn the cultists against the priest. With that taken care of, the two heroes search the reminder of the temple, finding some letters that refer a Spector aiding the cultists. They leave (taking a gnoll cultist with them) and make their way through the Towers District. They come into conflict with some armed guards, killing most of them in the process, and managing to secure the gnoll (with the help of Panoptica). Back at the Citadel, the heroes are debriefed, learning that Savros never made it back with Odo. They also tell their supervisors that they did not look read the priests letters (they did). *Turgood and Calleh head out to a local tavern afterwords, looking for information. They are directed to a large man sitting alone in a corner. They're told his name is Arete, a former arena champion who retired young. Our heroes start talking to him, eventually earning his trust due to their fighting past. He leads them a decent ways, to his house, a large building that is doubling as a hospital for plague victims. He asks Turgood and Calleh for help in finding a cure, giving them a list of ingredients to find that may cure the plague once and for all. *The next day, Turgood and Calleh are summoned to a meeting in the Citadel. With them, are a half-elf vampire Valar, and two others (Xaidou and Leona). They're quickly debriefed on the situation, incorporeal demons are attacking by the temple they had just investigated. Heading out, they come across some of these demons, defeating them, but the chick is injured in the fighting. Moving on, they come across some kind of dragon-ape, and after a hard fought battle, the party wins (collecting some dragon-ape loot in the process). They make there was into the temple, where they're informed by Panoptica that the multi-colored doors are responsible for the influx of demons. Taking another look around the temple before they wreck it, they break into the previously locked room. Panoptica flips out, saying that they need to leave this room, citing conflicts within her programming. They eventually do, but not before taking an ingredient for the cure. Heading upstairs, Turgood finds his minions still waiting his orders. He gets Panoptica to lead them to an abandoned house, but not before keeping one around (to drain its blood for another cure ingredient). Summoning a dire badger, Valar helps wreck the doors, keeping the demons out of the city...for now. *Heading back, they are debriefed by the Elven and Human commanders. Turgood reveals that he may have peeked at the secret documents, while Valar and the Elf commander have a terse exchange. The party learns that a Specter team was recently slaughtered in a dark alley close to the citadel. They also confide about the possible traitor that Nunn's letters mentioned. The human commander takes them to the morgue to investigate the bodies, but not before nervously writing the name of the human councilor on a piece of paper and telling the party to report what they find to him and him alone. The party decides to investigate the Specters death's, heading to the alley where their bodies were found. They encounter an avatar of Kaputha, not the demon itself, but still a fearsome enemy. Another brutal fight ensues, that see's Xaidou lose the use of his legs, but they're able to banish the avatar in the end. Heading back to the citadel, they report on what had just occurred. *The party is summoned to a debriefing with Ketrab's three rulers. The session is full of pomp and exaggeration, but the party does see some dischord between the human and archon leaders. They are also officially under the control of the human Specter leader, Martin. He directs them to several leads they can follow (while equipping them with some new items) and they chose to visit the quarantine in the slums. There, they encounter firsthand the effects of the plague, as it's turned citizens into (sometimes exploding) monsters. The party is looking for one of the alchemists to help them with the plague-antidote recipe. With the help of a quarantine guard, they are able to track her down (while battling numerous monsters). They've got little time though, as Valar has to "convince" her to leave ahead of another large group of monsters. They head next to a fort, to try to track down the other alchemist on their list, but find it surrounded. Through some tricks, they're able to break into the fort, and aid in the evacuation. *Returning to Martin, the party decides to investigate the human leader some. Valar disguises herself and is able to use her powers to seduce and hypnotize on of the human leaders servants. The party learns that she meets reguarly with a mystic who guides her about the future. So they decide to pay him a visit, where he shows the party some demonic artifacts (including a Vespa Sphere they've been looking for). But Turgood gets too close to one, and it activates, releasing a monster (oh, and he ko's the mystic with a punch to the face)! In the chaos that follows, Calleh swipes the Vespa Sphere, but the mystic regains consciousness as she uses it in battle. He pulls a gun, but the others attack, and all hell breaks loose. Calleh sneaks into the shadows to search the shop while Turgood and Valar just destroy the poor wretch. Under pain of death, he admits that he's a fraud with no connections to demons at all. *The party (Turgood, Calleh, and Valar) head out to find the last ingredient to the plague antidote, blood root. They venture into the part of the city that long ago found itself attacked by victims of the original corruption. Surprisingly, they are able to retrieve samples of the plant with out any issues. But on there way out, a large contingent of guards approaches them, announcing that the Triarchs wish them to return immediately. Sending the blood root with Panoptica back to the hospital, they venture back to the Citadel. There, they are surprised to see Martin in terrible shape, as the Triarchs announce that the rest of their squad had been eliminated by Kaputha itself! Martin, unable to contain himself, screams out that nothing is as it seems, and is taken away by guards. The Triarchs tell the party that they are under their orders, and the first order of business is to go with a team of guards and locate Savros (who Martin said was never supposed to live). Heading back into in the infected area and discontent with their situation, the trio ditch the rest of the city guards at the first opportunity and head off to find Savros themselves. On the way, they are accosted by numerous "Plague Victims" and other demonic monsters, but are able to defeat them. With Panoptica's help (who, they learn, has been cut off from the Citadel after the business with Martin) they locate the warehouse where Savros has been held up. Turgood bars the door with the monsters in close pursuit as Calleh and Valar head upstairs where they hear a lot of noise. They see Odo chained to a wall and all cut up, with Savros (himself cut up as well) ranting and raving. Valar heads off find his missing sigil, while Calleh confronts the crazed Specter. She is able to get him to snap back to reality, as he then tells her his story about how the Triarchs found him and amplified his powers. As the monsters break through, Savros heads downstairs, and seemingly destroys the most powerful demonic monsters with a mere touch. *Taking Savros back to the hospital (not after Calleh kills Odo to eliminate any witnesses) they find that a cure has been produced. They try several methods before finally seeing some results, and leave the rest up to the staff. They now head out to follow their other lead, Jacoby and Julina, the Nopex twins. No sooner than they leave the hospital then they run into the one man they've been trying to find, Black Sallex. He informs the party that he is willing to help, and takes them to the Nopex's. They find the twins tending to the War Memorial, and they greet Sallex like a long lost friend. The Nopex's reveal to the party that their family has been conspiring with the human Triarch to try to regain control of the city for the humans, to return Ketrab to what it once was. However, they make no mention of demons. Heading back to the hospital, they plan their next move. The party decides next on trying to trail the human Triach Lady Riska to a secret meeting. Heading through to the side entrance to the Citadel the party (along with a few men that Arete had lent them) lays in wait for their target. But as they wait, one by one, the followers Arete send drop down dead. Turning and preparing to fight, they are stunned to see a masked Specter standing before them! He snaps his fingers, and six elite soldiers appear out of nowhere and prepare for battle. But right away, Turgood smashes this rogue Specter in the face, destroying his mask and sending him bloody to the ground. At this moment, Lady Riska appears, surrounded by her personal guards, the Chobacks. In the chaos that follows, Calleh slips into the shadows, Valar disguises herself as Risks's former mystic, Cinnamon (name change pending), and Turgood, unable to escape, grabs the Triarch and holds her hostage. Cinnamon tries to appeal to Riska to tell the soldiers to drop their arms, but they don't, and Turgood uses his sigil to flee. But then in a shocking moment, the elite soldiers turn on the Chobacks, killing the whole squad, and giving chase to Turgood. Calleh and Valar give chase, but the former turns around at the last second to return to the scene to search for clues. The elites catch up to Turgood, and prepare to fire, but instead of shooting at him, they murder the Triarch! They pump a few more rounds into Riska, and flee, but Turgood is able to grapple with one. While they are struggling, another party led by the archon Triarch appears! Seeing Riska's body lying on the ground, he orders to troops to arrest Turgood and "Cinnamon", but they flee back into the hospital. *Calleh later returns as the party has no idea what to do next. They are informed by Panoptica that Martin has escaped, and possibly fled the city. She comes over the sigil again and tells them that the archon triarch has declared himself the sole ruler of Ketrab, having blamed Riska's death on a group of rogue elves and battling for control. Martial law has also been declared in the city. Their thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door, as troops have come looking for them. With Arete guiding them, they are able to flee north, and he takes them under and out of the city. Heading into the wilds, Arete introduces them to the Beastmen who live there, and they take refuge, planning on what actions to take. *Meeting with the Beastmen, the group discovers that Martin has found his way there as well. After some discussion, they agree that more of the cure needs to be made. The Beastman leader tells them that there is a hydra in a nearby swamp, whose toxins can be used to mass produce a cure. The group, along with some Beastmen guides, head out to do battle. After fighting with some mud men, the hydra appears. Calleh falls during battle, and the hydra is slain. The Beastmen leader is able to ressurect her with an ancient ritual. Victory is short lived, as Panoptica tries to contact the elven AEI, she instead gets an image of Lord Festankofez, who summons another Avatar of Kaputha. Another battle commences, with many dead Beastmen, but once again, the party triumphs. They head back to the Beastmen village, where they encounter the Elven triarch. Together, they plan an assault on Ketrab. *With the help of the Beastmen, the group is able to fly to the top of the dome. They plan to work their way down from the top to where the triarch resides. They are able to talk their way past a few groups of guards, but eventually their presence is discovered. They fight there way to the elevator, sabotaging it on the way down, ensuring they won't be followed (and that it'll be a one way trip). They are able to make their way to Festankofez's chambers, where he tries to convince the party that he is doing the right thing. They are having none of it, attacking him and killing him in a brutal fashion. There is little time to enjoy their victory, as the demons have now taken control over the top level of the dome, holding the aristocracy up there prisoners. *The demons are pulling the city into their realm, as it is starting to fade in and out. The party once more makes their way to the top to do battle. Defeating the demons on the top of the dome, they attempt to cast a powerful spell to bring the city out of the demon realm and fully into their own. It is successful, but with terrible side effects. As the city lurches back into reality, much of it is destroyed, including the Citadel itself. *As a result of the spell cast, a giant rend has appeared in the sky, pouring out magical energies. With the help of a wizard, the party is able to float up to the rend and enters the Atrium; a conduit between the different planes in the world. They are instructed to forge a path forward by envisioning the future of Ketrab. As they make their way along, they come to a demonic fortress. Entering, they come to a room which suspends the party in the air. There, they are taunted by Deveroth, the demon leader, who tries to convince the party to join him. Savros is somehow able to use his powers to escape, and frees the rest of the party. They come to the central chamber of the fortress, and do battle with the demons. But the battle is short lived, as Kaputha itself begins to form itself. The party escapes (with the rescued nobles) and find themselves hurtled back into Ketrab, where they are engaged in battle with Kaputha high over the city! The battle is not going well, but then a mysterious figure joins the battle; the great hero Atmei! The party combines their powers with his, and they are able to destroy Kaputha, sending him back into the aether and sealing the rend in the sky. *Atmei has called a big meeting with the Elves, military, and Beastmen attending. The army pushes hard to reestablish the rule of the triarchs and humans, with them in charge. The elves plan on leaving, and return to their lands. The Beastfolk want to share the city with all, a plan favored by the party. The party talks down the military, shaming them into accepting their terms, and then Atmei uses the last of his lifeforce to make their vision a reality. But as Atmei dies, Deveroth and the demons appear, and use a soul net (similar to the one used to capture the Emperor all those years ago) to capture Atmei's energy. The final battle takes place, as the demons are finally defeated and banished back to their realm with Turgood delivering the killing blow on Deveroth. The remaining citizens of Ketrab are now going to live in harmony with the Beastmen. Turgood volunteers to go into stasis, in case the demons ever return and he is needed again.